This is what God has to say about the sudden destruction of the wicked and “The Day of the LORD”
God says that He sends sudden destruction (desolation) on the wicked who have continually refused Him and His ways, but He keeps the righteous and they obtain His favor and mercy (salvation). God really wants to save everyone, and He gives us lots of opportunities for grace, mercy and salvation (2Peter 3:9-15).
Proverbs 3:25
“Be not afraid of sudden fear, neither of the desolation of the wicked, when it cometh.”
It’s interesting that this scripture can be read two ways, 1.) when the wicked destroy and 2.) when God destroys the wicked. Ever since I’ve read that scripture, I have read it as being when God brings destruction to the wicked. I think it’s because when reading lots of other scriptures, there seems to be very consistent examples of the wicked being suddenly destroyed without having any more chances for mercy.
I hate to think of that being the case for anyone. It doesn’t have to be, that’s why He pleads with us not to harden our hearts when we hear Him and His instructions; so we can continue to find His mercy “in times of need”. Hebrews 4:16 “Let us therefore come boldly unto the throne of grace, that we may obtain mercy, and find grace to help in time of need.”
Some quick examples of sudden destruction are the great world wide flood where only Noah and his family and animals were preserved; Sodom and Gomorrah and Jerusalem 70 A.D. 1Thessalonians 5:2-4 warns us it’s coming again (sudden destruction), but not only in isolated areas; it will be a world wide destruction mentioned in Isaiah chapter 24, “the day of the LORD”.
Scriptural examples of the sudden destruction of the wicked:
Deuteronomy 7:4
“For they will turn away thy son from following Me, that they may serve other gods: so will the anger of the LORD be kindled against you, and destroy thee SUDDENLY.”
Psalms 64:7
“But God shall shoot at them with an arrow; SUDDENLY shall they be wounded.”
Proverbs 6:12-15
“A naughty person, a wicked man, walketh with a froward mouth. He winketh with his eyes, he speaketh with his feet, he teacheth with his fingers; Frowardness is in his heart, he deviseth mischief continually; he soweth discord. Therefore shall his calamity come SUDDENLY; SUDDENLY shall he be broken without remedy.”
(“without remedy” meaning without an opportunity to repent and receive forgiveness/mercy/salvation {2Chronicles 36:16})
Proverbs 24:19-22
“Fret not thyself because of evil men,neither be thou envious at the wicked; For there shall be no reward to the evil man; the candle of the wicked shall be put out. My son, fear thou the LORD and the king: and meddle not with them that are given to change: For their calamity shall rise SUDDENLY; and who knoweth the ruin of them both?”
Proverbs 29:1
“He, that being often reproved hardeneth his neck, shall SUDDENLY be destroyed, and that without remedy.”
Isaiah 47:10-11
“For thou hast trusted in thy wickedness: thou hast said, None seeth me. Thy wisdom and thy knowledge, it hath perverted thee; and thou hast said in thine heart, I am, and none else beside me. Therefore shall evil come upon thee; thou shalt not know from whence it riseth: and mischief shall fall upon thee; thou shalt not be able to put it off: and desolation shall come upon thee SUDDENLY, which thou shalt not know.”
1Thessalonians 5:2-4
“For yourselves know perfectly that the day of the Lord so cometh as a thief in the night. For when they shall say, Peace and safety; then SUDDEN destruction cometh upon them, as travail upon a woman with child; and they shall not escape. But ye, brethren, are not in darkness, that that day should overtake you as a thief.”
The Day of the LORD:
Isaiah 2:12
“For the day of the LORD of hosts shall be upon every one that is proud and lofty, and upon every one that is lifted up; and he shall be brought low”
Isaiah 13:6
“Howl ye; for the day of the LORD is at hand; it shall come as a destruction from the Almighty.”
Isaiah 13:9
“Behold, the day of the LORD cometh, cruel both with wrath and fierce anger, to lay the land desolate: and he shall destroy the sinners thereof out of it.”
Isaiah 34:8
“For it is the day of the LORD’S vengeance, and the year of recompences for the controversy of Zion.”
Jeremiah 46:10
“For this is the day of the Lord GOD of hosts, a day of vengeance, that he may avenge him of his adversaries: and the sword shall devour, and it shall be satiate and made drunk with their blood: for the Lord GOD of hosts hath a sacrifice in the north country by the river Euphrates.”
Zephaniah 2:3
“Seek ye the LORD, all ye meek of the earth, which have wrought His judgment; seek righteousness, seek meekness: it may be ye shall be hid in the day of the LORD’S anger.”
Which seems to match the scripture we started with:
Proverbs 3:25-26
“Be not afraid of sudden fear, neither of the desolation of the wicked, when it cometh. For the LORD shall be thy confidence, and shall keep thy foot from being taken.”
2Peter 3:10
“But the day of the Lord will come as a thief in the night; in the which the heavens shall pass away with a great noise, and the elements shall melt with fervent heat, the earth also and the works that are therein shall be burned up.”
Which seems to match the future destruction we read about in Isaiah chapter 24.
Isaiah 24:5-6
“The earth also is defiled under the inhabitants thereof; because they have transgressed the laws, changed the ordinance, broken the everlasting covenant. Therefore hath the curse devoured the earth, and they that dwell therein are desolate: therefore the inhabitants of the earth are burned, and few men left.”
God said, “making them an ensample unto those that after should live ungodly” – it’s our warning to be godly and not “harden our hearts” in rebellion.
A friend of mine says that an “ensample” is a visual example:
2Peter 2:4-9
“For if God SPARED NOT the angels that sinned, but cast them down to hell, and delivered them into chains of darkness, to be reserved unto judgment;
And SPARED NOT the old world,
BUT SAVED NOAH the eighth person, a preacher of righteousness, bringing in the flood upon the world of the ungodly;
And turning the cities of Sodom and Gomorrha into ashes CONDEMNED THEM with an overthrow, making them an ENSAMPLE unto those that after should live ungodly;
And DELIVERED just Lot, vexed with the filthy conversation of the wicked: (For that righteous man dwelling among them, in seeing and hearing, vexed his righteous soul from day to day with their unlawful deeds;).
The Lord knoweth HOW TO DELIVER the godly out of temptations,
and to reserve the unjust unto the day of judgment to be punished”
2Peter 3:9-15
“The Lord is not slack concerning His promise, as some men count slackness; but is longsuffering to us-ward,
NOT WILLING THAT ANY SHOULD PERISH,
but that all should COME TO REPENTANCE.
But THE DAY OF THE LORD
will com as a thief in the night; in the which the heavens shall pass away with a great noise, and the elements shall melt with fervent heat, the earth also and the works that are therein shall be burned up. Seeing then that all these things shall be dissolved, what manner of persons ought ye to be in all holy conversation and godliness, Looking for and hasting unto the coming of the day of God, wherein the heavens being on fire shall be dissolved, and the elements shall melt with fervent heat.
Nevertheless we, according to HIS promise, look for new heavens and a new earth, wherein dwelleth righteousness. Wherefore, beloved, seeing that ye look for such things, be diligent that ye may be found of HIM in peace, without spot, and blameless.
And account that the longsuffering of our Lord is salvation; even as our beloved brother Paul also according to the wisdom given unto him hath written unto you”